S. Korea's Samsung most sued by patent mongers: lawyer

SEOUL, Sept. 28 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's Samsung Group was the most sued company by so-called "patent trolls" during the last five years for its alleged infringement on patented technologies, a patent lawyer said Monday.

Ha Young-wook, head of Ha & Ha Patent and Law Firm, said in a Seoul conference
that 38 patent lawsuits were filed against Samsung Group from 2004 to 2008,
followed by Microsoft Corp. and Motorola Inc.
LG Group ranked sixth with 29 cases in terms of the number of patent lawsuits
sued against it, Ha said, citing data collected by "www.patentfreedom.com"
"Patents suits by 'patent trolls' accounted for 14 percent of all the global
patent lawsuits that took place in 2008. It was a drastic increase from 3 percent
in 2000," Ha said.
The term "patent troll" refers to a person or company that enforces its patents
against one or more alleged infringers in a manner considered unduly aggressive
or opportunistic, often having no actual intention to manufacture or market the
patented invention.
There are estimated to be approximately 200 such firms in the world, composed of
highly skilled technicians, lawyers and patent specialists who have expertise in
the information technology and biotechnology, the lawyer said.
Ha stressed that South Korean companies need to reorganize their patent-related
strategies in order to fight these patent trolls, as the lawsuits will often
result in a rise of production costs and a fall in competitiveness.
ygkim@yna.co.kr